HIV AIDS

United Nations

Economic and Social Council

Distr.: General
Original: English

Commission for Social Development

Forty-third session
9 18 February 2005
Item 3a of the provisional agenda

Statement on HIV/AIDS Orphans for the Review of Further Implementation of the

World Summit for Social Development and the Outcome of the Twenty-fourth
Special Session of the General Assembly
Prepared and submitted by:
NGOs in General Consultative Status with ECOSOC
Franciscans International
NGOs in Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC
American Psychological Association
International Union of Anthropological & Ethnological Sciences
Pax Christi International
Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
World Youth Alliance
Endorsed and supported by:
NGOs in General Consultative Status with ECOSOC
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd;
Congregations of St. Joseph
NGOs in Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC
Christian Childrens Fund
Dominican Leadership Conference
Elizabeth Seton Federation
International Association of Charities
International Association of Schools of Social Work
International Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centres
International Federation of Social Workers
International Presentation Association Sisters of the Presentation
Lutheran World Federation
Mercy International Association
National Council of Women of the United States
Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur
Society of Catholic Medical Missionaries
VIVAT International
The Secretary-General has received the following statement, which is circulated in accordance
with paragraphs 30 and 31 of Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31 of 25 July 1996.

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Introduction
Affirming the commitment of the World Summit on Social Development Platform of Action to strengthen
national efforts to address more effectively the growing HIV/AIDS pandemic by providing necessary
education and prevention services, working to ensure that appropriate care and support services are
available and accessible to those affected by HIV/AIDS, and taking all necessary steps to eliminate every
form of discrimination against and isolation of those living with HIV/AIDS;
Recognizing, in line with the Copenhagen Platform of Action, that it is critical to social development that
special measures are taken to protect the displaced, the homeless, street children, unaccompanied
minors and children in special and difficult circumstances, orphansand to ensure that they are
integrated into their communities;
We, NGOs committed to advocacy, direct service and global action related to HIV/AIDS, urge that the
Copenhagen +10 Review renew and strengthen the commitment to provide support, protection and
education for orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS.
We are pleased to note that the Secretary-General, in his report of 25 July 2003, stated that there has
been significant progress in the global response to HIV/AIDS since his report in August of 2002. We
recognize and affirm the increase in political commitment and national efforts, particularly in Asia and subSaharan Africa. These have been strengthened to provide education and prevention services, and
provide support for stronger, better coordinated global actions against the pandemic particularly through
the activities of UNAIDS. However, with the Secretary General, we realize, that in many important
respects, the challenges posed by (HIV/AIDS) remain as large as ever. One of these challenges, which
has not yet received the attention it requires, is the ever increasing number of children who are orphaned
and poor because of the pandemic.
According to the 2004 report issued jointly by UNAIDS, UNICEF and USAID, Children on the Brink, there
are millions of vulnerable children made orphans because of the pandemic and the number is likely to rise
in the next decade. Currently, worldwide there are approximately 15 million orphans due to HIV/AIDS,
12.3 million in sub-Saharan Africa alone. These numbers demonstrate the magnitude of the crisis and
call for an equally intense response on the part of governments everywhere, as well as other stakeholders
NGOs, businesses, intergovernmental agencies, financial institutions, religious groups, etc. At the
World Summit and at Copenhagen +5, not enough policy attention was given to the situation of children
orphaned and impoverished as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The massive impact of the condition
of these orphans on social development everywhere needs more attention and more action first by
governments and then by other stakeholders as well.
A Human Rights Framework for Effective Action
The extreme vulnerability of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS necessitates implementation of the principles
of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and related human rights instruments as the basis
for effective interventions. We recognize that this vulnerability is heightened even more by the disruption
to whole community structures when both the children and their mothers are stigmatized because of the
loss of a father or spouse to the deadly virus. Such stigmatization is even more deplorable when we
realize that, in many of the conflicts in Africa, soldiers and militia members who are infected intentionally
spread the virus through rape of even very young girls as a weapon of war. We believe that this makes
even more urgent the promotion of the CRC, which requires that as a primary consideration that all
actions concerning children be in their best interests; i.e.
ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of children;
provide special protection and assistance for children permanently deprived of their family and
that alternative care provide continuity with the childrens upbringing and their ethnic, religious,
cultural and linguistic background;
assist others responsible for children without parents to ensure a standard of living adequate for
their physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development;

HIV AIDS

preserve the childrens family relations;

promote the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victimin an
environment which fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child;
give due weight to the views of the children in accordance with their age and maturity;
provide information and materials from a diversity of sources to promote childrens social,
spiritual, and moral well-being and physical and mental health;
protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or
negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse; and
promote childrens right to education to develop their full potentials and prepare them for a
responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of
sexes, and friendship among all peoples.

Considerations regarding Appropriate Caregivers

When a child is orphaned, one needs to know if there is a surviving relative that is physically, mentally
and emotionally able and accessible to care for the child. It may very well be that, in the absence of
relatives, members of the community take on the responsibility of caring for orphans in a shared capacity.
Generally the people who live in the community are in the best position to determine which children are at
greatest risk and what factors should be used to assess their vulnerability and to set priorities for local
action.
Programs should aim at geographic areas seriously affected by HIV/AIDS and then support the residents
of these communities in organizing the identification and assistance of the most vulnerable children and
households. After losing parents and caregivers, children have an even greater need for stability, care and
protection. Family capacity represents the single most important factor in building a protective
environment for children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS, whether the head of the household is a
widowed parent, an elderly grandparent, a young person, or a communal environment. There is an urgent
need to develop and scale up family and community based care opportunities for the small but highly
vulnerable proportion of boys and girls who are living outside of family care.
In the current situation of the world-wide pandemic, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has placed an enormous
responsibility on governments and on every community and religious institution to help to alleviate the
pain and suffering of this vulnerable group of children. In particular religious institutions have traditionally
played an important and valuable role in the care of orphans throughout the world. We affirm this and
value their continued presence on the front line at the local level. Their involvement is often key to the
community responses to these children and should be supported.
We submit that at this time of the ten-year review, immediate, sustained and coordinated efforts to protect
these children and preserve the family unit are urgently needed.
Policy and Action Recommendations to Governments
1. Urge all nations to commit more resources to the needs for healthcare, psychosocial support and
recovery, and HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention for children orphaned and made poor by
HIV/AIDS. In particular, further support could be given to the WHO #x% initiative.
2. Call upon countries with high rates of AIDS infection to adopt and actively implement national
plans of action to provide for the education and socialization of children who have been
orphaned. At the present time only 17% of countries have a national plan of action which deals
with this issue.
3. Ask UNICEF or other UN agency to develop a best practices resource that would assist nations in
developing creative and effective plans of action designed to be appropriate to their local
situation, taking into consideration the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention for
the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (and girls), and other human rights standards.

HIV AIDS
Plans of Action should include an assessment to determine the best care-giving situations and
ongoing monitoring of the health, welfare and psychosocial well being of children in highly
vulnerable situations. This assessment could also be used as a source for technical assistance.
4. Offer all children, among them the children orphaned because of HIV/AIDS, free education, giving
them safe and viable options for earning a living and becoming contributing members of their
communities.
5. Provide families with financial and other assistance that enable many orphans who might
otherwise be separated from their families to remain with them. Promote creative means of
financing such as debt swapping or tax on currency transactions to assist in providing resources
to care for orphaned children in holistic and culturally appropriate ways.
6. Immediately support the identification of orphaned children through, among others, street
educators and first-reception community centers that can connect with these children in the
streets, protect them from immediate exploitation by adults and reconnect them, whenever
possible, with existing extended family members or with support networks.
7. Call upon and encourage religious organizations to continue to provide shelter and aid for
children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and call upon those who have not joined in this effort to reach out
and organize a worldwide effort to help bring relief to this tragic situation. Although religious
traditions and laws must be respected it is important that those taking advantage of these
resources do so without pressure to embrace and follow these traditions, or be restricted by
traditions other than their own.
8. Provide caregivers of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS with financial, educational, nutritional,
health and psychosocial support along with other training in partnership with international or local
institutions, faith-based and other non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to
insure the proper care and development of orphaned children.
9. Recognizing the critical role of children and adolescents in confronting HIV/AIDS, duly respecting
every persons dignity, mobilize resources to train, encourage, and empower them to develop
their leadership potential in their communities. Also, allocate resources to development projects
devised, implemented by, and targeting orphaned children and young people at the local level.
10. Include children and young people in international, regional, and local HIV/AIDS policy
formulation and implementation, since HIV/AIDS has a disproportional impact on them. Todays
children and young people represent future leaders of their communities and nations.
11. Integrate a gender perspective into all programs for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS by effectively
assessing, addressing, and monitoring both the special needs and vulnerabilities of orphaned
girls and boys.